Contents ( 41)
- CAST OF CHARACTERS
- ACT ONE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- ACT TWO
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- ACT THREE
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- EPILOGUE
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- ALSO BY NAFIZA AZAD
She follows the sounds to a tall tree not far from the candy grass meadow and peers up. On a branch high up, thirty or so gringits have surrounded a shining creature Croi hasn’t seen outside of books. The pixie’s hair is a rich red and her skin is a pale green. She has silvery wings, which don’t seem to be helping her very much at this moment.
The pixie is scratched, pale, and desperately trying to defend herself against the overwhelming numbers of the gringits. Croi considers the choices before her. She can walk away, pretending that she hasn’t seen the pixie, and no one will know any better. Or she can take on the wrath of the gringits and try to save the pixie. She’s tempted to walk away, but alas, her conscience is determined and won’t let her.
Heaving a sigh, she climbs the tree, ignoring the warning chitters from the gringits who see her coming. Gringits are vicious by nature, and upon seeing her approach, they swarm toward her, biting and pinching. Croi mutters all the curses she picked up in the human city and others she has made up. By dint of sheer stubbornness, she finally reaches the branch the pixie is on and realizes that the poor creature is bound to the tree with a vine. The same vine is around her hands and legs. Croi reaches out to free her from her constraints when a large gringit rushes at her, a finger tipped with a sharp nail extended like a sword. His nail slices the soft part of Croi’s arm, and blood rushes out. Croi hisses, clamping her hand over the wound, but it’s too late. A drop or two of the blood falls on the branch. The gringit, emboldened by his success, rushes at her again. At this moment, the tree they are on groans in a strange, deep voice. The gringits all freeze. When the tree groans again, they scream and flee.
Croi perches precariously on the branch high above the forest floor. She looks at the tiny pixie, who blinks brown eyes ringed by a thick dark green at her for a long moment before slumping over in a faint.
TWELVE
CROI SITS ASTRIDE THE BRANCH of the tree and considers her options once again. The tree scared away the gringits, so there is no immediate threat from them. Therefore, no one can blame her if she simply leaves the pixie to the elements. It’s not like she owes the creature anything. However, if she leaves the pixie unconscious and something worse than the gringits comes around… Croi sighs. Scruples are very annoying things to possess.
She pokes at the pixie with a twig, but the pixie doesn’t respond. The pixie’s magick, green infused with brown, is pale and lethargic, almost as if it is running out. Croi opens her pack and carefully extracts a stalk of candy grass from it. She tears a little bit of the feathered flower and puts it on top of the pixie’s mouth. It melts into liquid immediately, and the pixie swallows it. Her magick brightens a bit a moment later. Encouraged, Croi feeds the pixie more, stopping only when her magick stops brightening. The pixie remains unconscious, however. Croi cuts the vines constraining her and leans back against the trunk of the tree, content to wait for the creature to wake up.